Niggles

Less than three weeks to go to the Cork city marathon. Unfortunately I have a number of niggles, including shinsplints. Last week I managed forty-five miles but I'm not going to make anything like that this week. I am backing off significantly on the mileage and will be happy to get more than thirty. For the two taper weeks I am toying with the idea of doing a tempo run and/or a long run and cross training for the remainder of each week.
Hopefully taking this approach will mean I do not loose any fitness while ensuring complete recovery from injury. Time will tell.

Shinsplints

I've developed a case of stage two shin splints. It's especially bad in my right leg and training is quite uncomfortable now. Saying that a few online articles and Runner's world videos gave me exercises that seem to have helped. This evening's six miles easy run was alot better than the previous evening's four miles.
I think I might get away with it getting any more serious but this is my wake up call to abandon any ambitions to increase mileage but rather to introduce some consistent strength training.

Connemarathon

On 22 March I did the Connemarathon. I was worried about what state I would be in for this as my 'stag' night was on the Friday and I was in a pretty bad way on Saturday morning. I managed to drag myself to Galway where I was staying with friends.
On Sunday morning I was feeling fully human again and got up at 6am to get the 8am bus to the start.
It got quite chilly waiting at the start and was eager to get going so we would not be standing around in the cold. We kicked off exactly on time at 10.30am. Before the start I got chatting to some people who had done the race before and I was glad as they tempered my aims and reiterated how hilly the course is. Consequently I decided to drop my aimed for average mile splits to 07:15. This proved to be a wise decision. The first mile passed in 07:12, so a little fast but very comfortable. I completed the second mile in 07:04, the third in 07:16. Here I encountered Johnny Donnelly of 'runjohnnyrun'. More on his crazy escapades to raise money for charity is available from runjohnnyrun.com. Mile four elapsed in 07:16, five in 07:19, six 07:03. It was here that the gentle incline from the start ended. The seventh mile went by in 07:19 and mile eight in 06:54. Obvious from the quicker time is that I was on the downhill section of the course towards Kilary harbour; Ireland's only fjord. I really began to appreciate the scenery at this point which was truly stunning. Mile nine went by in 07:09 and mile ten in 06:53. I was running on my won alot now. Mile eleven elapsed in 06:39 and twelve in 06:57. These two miles involve the final descent into Kilary harbour and running along the flat. Mile thirteen passed in 07:00. I was consciously trying to slow myself down now as I was going a bit fast and I anticipated a hillier second half. At this, the halfway point you come into the village of Leenane, where the half marathon starts and there is a short sharp rise out of the village. Unfortunately you have to get to this point in less than three hour pace to avoid having to run through two thousand half marathon starters. I could see the front runners pull away from the start as I entered the village and my heart sunk a little. I had to battle up hill against the usual twits who think it's a good idea to walk/run four abreast and those who throw their arms about in excitement. At one point I saw a girl taking off her hoddie to throw it to her friends across the road cheering her on. I decided to over take her on the inside before she did that but I didn't make it and it was only my anticipation of what she was about to do that allowed me to put my arms up in time to stop her throwing her right arm into my face. Battling through the crowd I got through miles fourteen and fifteen miles in 07:25 and 07:26, which I was happy with but I expended an awful lot of energy.
Mile sixteen went down in 06:43, mile seventeen in 06:44 and mile eighteen in 06:58. I was going too fast and needed to slow down. Mile nineteen passed in 07:16, mile twenty in 07:18. At this point I was getting anxious about the hill at mile twenty-three, the infamous 'hell of the west'. Mile twenty-two lapped in 07:29. Mile twenty-three 07:54, which represented the first part of the 'hell of the west' and mile twenty-four was extremely painful and slow, elapsing in 08:49. I was so glad to see the end of it and could now see the finish way off in the distance down a gentle gradient. I could not get back up to my previous pace and could feel my left hamstring cramping up pretty bad and worried about something giving out and registering a DNF. Thankfully I held it together and miles twenty-five and six passed in 07:21 and 07:26 respectively. In the last 0.2 I got 'chicked' but my pride was not hurt too much when it transpired that she would be the female marathon winner. I finished in 03:10:24 and considering this was a much tougher course than Dublin I was very happy with the time.
If I miss the qualifying time for Boston 2010 the Connemarathon will be a very good consolation prize and I would definitely recommend it to anyone. Superbly organised, great course and nice medal and wicked t-shirt for all finishers.

Cupid's Dash 10k

Valentine's day was the date for the inaugural Cupid's 10k dash. Irishfit.com organised this event in the Phoenix park. It followed the same route as the Aware 10k so it would be test of progress of any from December.
It began at 10am and I made sure I was at the very front so as to ensure a clean getaway. I reckon there were about five hundred participants. I aimed to pass the first mile in 06:20, nine seconds faster than the Aware 10k. The first mile passed in 06:21 and I quickly found myself in a group of about five runners with the leading pack of four in front of us about fifty metres ahead.
Mile two 06:22, mile three in 06:14. I was feeling strong and was feeling confident of breaking the forty minute barrier. At this point the two leading women and the leading group of men disappeared. Mile four 06:20. Mile five, which is where you first encounter the hills as you move along military road, passed in 06:26. I was very happy with this and as I approached the crest I put the hammer down and glided over the top and overtook the four runners I had been with for most the the previous four to five miles. At this point you move down hill for a couple of hundred yards and turn left onto Kyber road, where it is up hill for most of a mile. Here one of the runners I passed half a mile back overtook me; drew level and we ran together for about 400 metres. I felt strong and pushed on, leaving him behind.
For the previous five mile I could see the second woman in the distance and was slowly reeling her in but there were not enough miles to left to catch her. Mile six passed in 06:33 and the last kilmoetre is a nice gentle negative gradient where I pushed on and passed another few runners. I crossed the line in 39:35, a new PB and my first sub forty 10k. No results up yet but I might just have come in the top twenty.

Improvement?

I did my tempo run this evening, which is 1600m warm up, 2X1600m@06:44, 1600 rest, 2x1600@06:44 and a cooldown. The first two tempo miles passed at 06:42 and 06:33. I felt fairly fatigued at this point. The rest period was 1600m, which is quite long I think. The second set of tempo miles were 06:28 and 06:33 and I was surprised at how much I had recovered and I might need to reconsider my target pave of 06:44 or reduce the recovery period.

Iliotibial band

In recent weeks I've upped my mileage by about twenty per cent and I think it is paying off. I am running a little ahead of my target tempo pace and my interval sessions seem to be getting a little easier. However, there is a drawback. My IT band is playing up, atleast as a self diagnosis I think that is what it is and has resulted in 'Runner's Knee'. I am pretty sure this is what is it as I have all the classic symptoms, a dull and sometimes sharp pain, especially getting up from a seated position or walking downstairs.
Also, the stretches that relieve and/or prevent IT band pain do seem to work and are keeping it under control. I am trying to build in more stretching and gym work to strengthen my quads, hamstrings and glutes. FIngers crossed this will do the trick!

Aware 10K

Today I competed in the Aware www.aware.ie 10K in the Phoenix Park. I made it out there at about 9.00am. The sun was just coming up over the Dublin skyline off to the east and combined with the frost laden ground was a very picturesque scenario.
Unfortunately, with this came ice on the park's roads. This was a major concern for the organisers as the start approached. I jostled my way to the front and as we set off I decided to follow those who had ran over ground in front of me and not come a cropper. Conditions were fairly treacherous underfoot but I did not see anyone take a tumble thankfully. My first mile went well elapsing in 06:29; mile two in 06:16 and mile three in 06:11. A sub forty minute 10k was looking possible. Mile four, which was primarily downhill elapsed in 06:14. Mile five passed in 06:33; during this mile we began an uphill section and mile five was a series of undulating hills that I found very tough and my heart rate went into the 180s. Mile six I slowed considerably and this is where I lost the possibility of achieving a sub forty, completing it in 06:58. On a positive I responded well in the last kilometre, which was a gentle negative gradient, completing it in less than four minutes. I crossed the line in 40:21, which beat my previous PB by twenty-eight seconds so I was very pleased with the morning's work!
The picture is of the Waterloo Obelisk, commemorating the Irish General, Arthur Wellesley's, AKA the Duke of Wellington, victory over Napoleon in June 1815.